


What Happened in France

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-25 05:21:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12029019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: After Anne's disappearance, Fripp and Avalon travel to France in an attempt to find out what happened. It doesn't go well.





	What Happened in France

In the dead of night, a presence at the Secret Stone Circle summoned Fripp from his comfortable bed in a tree. It was quite insistent, causing Fripp to fall to the stone below with a little thud. He could still see the fading pink sparks from the summoning spell, and some white flashes. Though maybe the flashes were more from hitting his head on the stone.

"Yes, what is it?" said Fripp, getting to his feet and shaking his head to get the world to stop spinning. It didn't help, so he closed his eyes. And felt himself lifted up by a hand which held him tightly around the middle. His eyes snapped open to find an angry and distressed Alex Cloudmill. Her hair was a disastrous mess, and her eyes were bloodshot. There were tear tracks down her cheeks, and she was shaking.

"Something's happened to Anne," said Alex. Fripp was still only half awake, so he blinked stupidly at her. Then, Alex shook him, and his mind cleared. Fripp reached out with his magic, feeling the strands of fate and life, and discovered that one purple strand was, indeed, missing. It used to be there, twined with the bright blue strand, but now it was gone.

"It appears that you are right," said Fripp. "But how would you know that, warrior? You cannot see and touch the strands as I can."

"I dunno but I felt this pain and then I turned on the TV, and I tried calling her, but she-she's gone, Fripp!" said Alex, her voice rough with pain.

"I warned her not to travel to France," said Fripp, waking up properly now. "There is no druid presence there, and her tour schedule makes it easy for the Generals to keep up with her. Hmm, wait, that's the star."

"I know! I tried to convince her of that but she didn't listen, but I can't be mad now," said Alex, her voice cracking. Fripp was concerned- he'd never seen Alex so upset over anything before.

"Strange that you felt it," Fripp murmured. "It must be the soul bond. Soul... hmm. But I'll look into that later. Right now, I have to wake one of the druids to book a flight to France."

"Why do you have to take a plane there? Can't you just teleport?" asked Alex.

"Oh no, of course not. With no druid presence, there is of course no safe teleportation space. I could use the one that the Generals use, but then I would end up in the heart of their compound. No, I shall have to fly there," said Fripp.

"Hurry," said Alex. "I don't know what you'll find, but... please, just hurry." 

"I will," said Fripp. "Worry not, dear Alex, I will find your friend." Hmm, that wasn't the right word to use. But telling her now would only make the pain that much worse. Having a reason for the pain usually did that.

"How can I not worry?" asked Alex. "And I want to come too."

"I am afraid that I cannot allow that, Alex," said Fripp. "Your mother needs you, as does your youngest brother."

"That was years ago, Fripp! James doesn't even remember that anymore," said Alex. "I can't just sit at home waiting for news, I can't!"

"That is one of the greatest risks of our job," said Fripp. "But you must, Alex. You would only be a burden."

"Gee, thanks," said Alex, anger flaring. Fripp jumped up and touched her forehead, sending her to sleep and back into her bed.

"I am sorry, Alex, but a distressed girlfriend is the last thing we need right now," said Fripp. Now that he was fully awake, Fripp went to the druid who he knew would be awake at this hour.

"Fripp, what an unexpected surprise," said Avalon when he opened the door and saw the blue squirrel sitting on the doorstep. "Come in, come in."

"I do not have time to chat," said Fripp, scampering inside and up the curtains (Avalon suppressed a sigh as the squirrel's claws tore through the expensive material).

"Then to what do I owe this unexpected visit?" asked Avalon, leading the squirrel further into his house.

"There has been a disappearance," said Fripp. "We have lost our sun."

"Oh, is it supposed to be day outside?" asked Avalon.

"No, no," said Fripp with a wave of his paw. "Though there may be a solar eclipse. I was referring to our sun. Anne. She has vanished during a dressage competition in France."

"Oh," said Avalon. "Well, that's not good."

"Understatement," said Fripp. "I need you to book a flight to France."

"Oh, they're so expensive," said Avalon. But he went into his office, where he closed the game of Solitaire that he'd been playing and opened his web browser. Fortunately, there was a flight leaving in a few hours.

"Thank you, Avalon," said Fripp. "I will prepare the things for our journey, and meet you back here to teleport to the airport in a few hours."

"Er, actually, we should leave immediately," said Avalon. "Airport security and, er..." He said something that Fripp couldn't quite make out. Fripp's blue ears twitched.

"What is it?" asked Fripp.

"Well... you resemble a squirrel," said Avalon. "You may be put in quarantine for biosecurity reasons."

"What?" Fripp bristled, twitching his tail angrily. "I am not a squirrel! Oh, if only they knew how they have angered a cosmic being that could flatten them easily. The one being in charge of keeping away the forces of evil."

While Fripp ranted, Avalon went into his bedroom and pulled down a bag to pack with a few necessities- another robe, his rune wand, some important stones (airport security always gave him strange looks when the rocks passed through the scanner, but Avalon didn't mind), and, of course, his passport. He couldn't just use a piece of paper that displayed what he wanted people to see for his passport, that would be silly. Also, illusions were more Fripp's or Linda's specialty. Avalon studied his passport photo, memorising the face so that he would have the right one at the airport, and also got down a cat carrier for Fripp.

"And what is that for?" asked Fripp, tail bristling when Avalon put the cat carrier down on the table. Avalon sighed.

"I know that you won't like it, but I have to have you in this at the airport," said Avalon. Fripp jumped up and down and stomped his feet, but he walked into the cat carrier and sat with his tail tucked over his feet. Avalon wisely decided not to tell him how much he looked like a cat at that moment. Instead, he teleported to the airport.

As Avalon had predicted, Fripp was put in quarantine for a few hours, during which time Fripp yelled about not being a pet and Avalon sat in the airport lounge and read a book.

Fortunately, Fripp was released from quarantine in time for their flight, and Avalon boarded the plane without any dramas (except for a few people giving him strange looks). Meanwhile, Fripp growled and ranted and just generally frightened the other poor animals in the cargo hold of the plane.

At last, the plane landed in France, and Avalon released Fripp from his cage once they were on their way to the French government's place of residence. Fripp sat up in the rental car and vigorously rubbed his ears and face to get rid of the stench of all of those other animals.

"Ugh, I will need to bathe in the source of the Silversong River when we get home," said Fripp.

"Please don't," said Avalon, concentrating on navigating the French roads. "I'm sure that the populace of Jorvik will not appreciate drinking water that you have been bathing in. Er, not after washing off the stink of those animals."

"Hmm, you are probably right," said Fripp. "But I will bathe vigorously once we get home."

Avalon pulled up at his destination, and Fripp hopped out of the car after him, running along the pavement and up the stairs. Once inside, though, people began to scream, and Fripp sighed.

"Oh, calm down! I am not going to harm any of you!" Fripp yelled. Unfortunately, despite having so much power, Fripp had not yet mastered French, so the people were only more frightened and confused when the squirrel started yelling at them in Jorvegian.

"I apologise for my friend," said Avalon in perfect French. "He does not know your language. We come in peace, on a mission in the name of the Keepers of Aideen." The people were still confused.

"What are you talking about?" asked one woman.

"We have reason to believe that one of our citizens has vanished during a dressage competition here," said Avalon.

"Yes, Anne von Blyssen, we are investigating this disappearance," said the woman.

"May I speak to your leader?" asked Avalon.

"Er, he is a little busy at the moment," said the woman. "Dealing with the press and with the girl's parents, you understand."

"What are they going on about, Avalon?" Fripp demanded. "I can't make sense of this language, it is all nonsense to me. Why can't they speak English like the rest of the world?"

"Oh, I am sorry, Monsieur Squirrel," said a voice in English, and Avalon sighed as the president of France appeared. "So terribly sorry that we cannot cater to your needs."

"You also cannot rescue such an important person," said Fripp, lashing his tail angrily. "Anne is vitally important to the fate of the world, far more important than your image."

"You will forgive me if I do not understand your plight," said the president. "While the girl's life is important, how is it vital to the world?"

"She is a Soul Rider, one of the four greatest protectors of the world against the threat of Dark Core and the Generals," said Fripp.

"Ah, I see," said the president, nodding. Avalon saw as the president turned to someone else and made a swirling motion with his hand. He sighed.

"What is it, Avalon?" asked Fripp. 

"They're going to have us taken away," said Avalon. "They think we are crazy."

"The nerve!" Fripp bristled, and launched himself at the French president's face. A scuffle followed, ending with the French president staggering away clutching his bleeding face, and Fripp being thrown down the front stairs. Avalon was also thrown out, but he wasn't actually thrown.

"You are hereby banned from France and any of her territories!" the French president shouted down at them. "The Keepers of Aideen are not welcome here!"

Avalon felt frustrated as his passport was updated with the information that he was banned from travelling to France. All because of Fripp. The blue squirrel was also angry, but more at the fact that the French president and government didn't respect the Keepers of Aideen and their work.

"Don't worry, they won't give up on Anne," said Avalon as he stood back at home in his house with Fripp. "They may be angry at us, but Anne's parents would cause quite the scene if the French government gave up on their daughter."

"Oh, I don't doubt that," said Fripp. "But now, we will never know which Generals were involved in her disappearance. They will not give us security camera footage, or credit card receipts, or anything that might give us some clue as to what happened."

"Perhaps it would have been better if we'd brought Alex," said Avalon.

"She would have made things worse," said Fripp. "That and the media would have used her to make Anne's disappearance that much more tragic."

"Hmm, she would not have appreciated that," said Avalon. "But who will tell her that we have failed, and why?"

"I will," said Fripp. He scampered over to the door, and wasn't surprised when he opened it to find Alex pacing there.

"Well?" asked Alex.

"I have had a... disagreement with the French government," said Fripp. "They will not tell us if Dark Core was involved."

"Oh, come on, Fripp, I know they were involved," said Alex. "It doesn't take an idiot to figure that out. I just want to know if there are any other details they can give us."

"Well, now we will never know," said Fripp. "I am sorry, Alex."

"Never send a squirrel on a diplomatic mission," Alex muttered, and swung herself back into Tin Can's saddle.

"You can't go there yourself," said Fripp. "The Keepers are not welcome in France."

"Then I'll get Linda to look into it," said Alex. "I'm not giving up on her."

As she rode off, Fripp had to admire her determination. If anyone could find Anne, Alex could.

Although it still stung that he'd been banned from France thanks to one little slip up. Stupid government officials overreacting. He didn't have rabies! He'd had his shots.


End file.
